Don’t Post Photos of My Kid Online!

Carolyn Wright, the Photo Attorney, was interviewed by the kind folks at Slate about the legality of posting photos of other people’s children online. Slate journalists Farhad Manjoo and Emily Yoffe discuss both ethical and legal arguments that has really cropped up since so many people a) have digital cameras, and b) post their photos on sites like Facebook.

Photo by Allen Murabayashi

It’s a pretty insightful and relevant discussion for all photographers given that many of us photograph children as a part of documentary or event work. The basic gist? If someone can’t reasonably rely on a right of privacy (e.g. they are attending a birthday party and everyone is taking photos), then they don’t have a legal right to request a takedown.

Have you ever taken a photo of a child where you were contacted by someone to remove it? What did you do?

P.S. I’m throwing my nomination in for Carolyn to set up a second website called “YourLegalWrights.com”